Coveney is desperately trying to claw back the huge Varadkar lead which his opponent built in a 48 hour initial blitz.

Despite ongoing promises about a respectful contest, senior Coveney campaigners are now warning uncertain TDs that: “Leo is another Haughey who is going to plunge us into an early general election if he wins”.

The Coveney camp are hoping the claim will detach “dithering Varadkar supporters who in the secrecy of the polling booth may decide they don’t quite fancy the Leo option as much as they did when the sun was shining, the cameras were flashing and the crowds were cheering”.

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“People who know me know that I’m a straight shooter. But I’m a competitive person, as is Leo. And so what you saw last night was both candidates in the final debate having a pretty straight shoot-out, in terms of ideas.

“People were explaining where they’re coming from, responding to accusations from the other, and that’s what you expect when you have four nights in a row of intense debate, two hours each time.

“And when it came to a final debate, both candidates were anxious not to be overly polite because there is a need for blunt and honest discussion in politics.

“This wasn’t some kind of entertainment show for people to watch. This was a real discussion, which was substantive within the party, and at the end of that, the membership, and the public representatives within Fine Gael will chose not only a leader, but also future direction for the party and I’ve outlined very clearly where I’m coming from.

“Whoever wins this contest, Fine Gael will unite and will be stronger at the end of it.

“Leo is a very talented politician and if he wins, he’ll make a good leader of Fine Gael.

“But I believe I would make a better leader and I believe I can take the party in a direction that not only the Fine Gael party membership would be comfortable with, but is a direction that a lot of people outside Fine Gael would be comfortable with.”

Meanwhile, Varadkar supporters hit back yesterday claiming Coveney’s ego has “cost the party tens of thousands of Euros in holding a meaningless contest”.

Leo Varadkar is campaigning to be the youngest Fine Gael leader in history

Despite ongoing promises about a respectful contest, senior Coveney campaigners are now warning uncertain TD’s that: “Leo is another Haughey who is going to plunge us into an early general election if he wins”.

Mr Varadkar has consistently emphatically denied he wants an early election.

The prospect of an early election would not be at all attractive for the vast majority of Fine Gael TD’s who took a fiscal hammering in the 2016 election.

Currently when it comes to TD’s and Senators Leo Varadkar leads by 45 to 21.

How the vote works

Voting for almost 21,000 party members will take place nationwide at 26 polling stations from Monday May 29 to Thursday June 1.
The Parliamentary Party will meet and vote in Dublin on Friday June 2.
All votes will be brought to a National Count Centre in Dublin on Friday June 2, where they will be will be verified and counted under the supervision of the National Returning Officer.
Votes will be weighted in accordance with the Fine Gael Electoral College rules
The 73 members of the Parliamentary Party accounting for 65 per cent of the total vote
The 21,000 party members accounting for 25 per cent
Fine Gael’s 235 local representatives accounting for the remaining 10 per cent.